Avon Lake’s Trey Stross caught three passes for 61 yards for Iowa as the Hawkeyes escaped with a 17-16 win over Northern Iowa. The game featured back-to-back blocks on two game-winning field goal attempts by Iowa State’s Billy Hallgren to seal the deal.

Elyria’s Danny Noble caught two passes for 18 yards for Toledo, as the Rockets were blasted by Purdue, 52-31 in West Lafayette, Indiana.

On Thursday night, Elyria’s P.J. Mahone and his Bowling Green Falcons took it to the Troy Trojans, winning 31-14 at Hoyt Perry Stadium. Mahone finished with eight tackles.

Also on Thursday, Amherst’s Alex Knipp led Ball State with 13 tackles on defense in its 20-10 loss to North Texas.

In Division II, Lake Erie College won a thriller in overtime, defeating Fairmont State University, 27-24. Brunswick’s Sean Bedevelsky threw the game-winning TD to Mentor’s Brandon James in the front right corner of the endzone in LEC’s home opener played at Jack Britt Memorial Stadium. Midview’s Scott Given was in on eight tackles, while Admiral King’s Cameron Bryant added four.

Notre Dame College of Ohio football will make its football debut on Sunday at 1 p.m. when they take on Hiram College on Korb Field in Lyndhurst.

In Division III action, North Ridgeville’s John McGraw scored a touchdown in Baldwin-Wallace’s 38-31 loss to Franklin at Berea. McGraw scampered from 9 yards out to score his first TD of the year, which happened to tie the game at 28 in the third quarter. He finished with 24 yards on six carries and he also caught four passes for 44 yards. Amherst’s Ryan Kish recorded a game-high 11 tackles on defense. Avon Lake’s Scott Nealon punted twice, averaging 42 yards a punt.

Midview’s Bobby Bott, a Division III All-American last season, helped 16th-ranked Case Western Reserve University get off to a good start, defeating Kenyon College, 33-21. The Spartans win is their 22nd straight regular-season victory and their eighth-straight season opening win. Bott recorded six tackles on defense and also returned a punt for eight yards.

Oberlin College lost to Washington and Jefferson, 35-9 in their opener. Amherst’s Shawn Chrapczynski recorded five tackles. Wellington’s Cory Kidd caught one pass for four yards and also punted eight times. Three of his punts were inside the 20-yard line.

swalker@MorningJournal.com